


A Game Only We Play

by Murder_Cupcake



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Based on Twitter Post, Cute Kids, Cutesy, First Meetings, Kid Hannibal Lecter, Kid Will Graham, M/M, Orphanage, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:06:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27334648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murder_Cupcake/pseuds/Murder_Cupcake
Summary: The lonely little Will Graham finds himself fascinated by chess after reading a book about it, but no one in the orphanage seems to understand the game, or even understand him at all. Everything changes when someone new arrives.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 9
Kudos: 160





	A Game Only We Play

**Author's Note:**

> A small thread fic I wrote on Twitter (@thegayprofiler) based on the chess metaphor Hugh did in the Hannibal Reunion, though I changed some things from the original post. Sorry for any typo or error and I hope you enjoy!

Will was sitting on the wooden floor, playing alone as usual. It'd been almost three years since he came to the orphanage, and, without friends, he soon learned to be all by himself, getting used to it.

He could be easily found at the orphanage's old library, reading several of the great amount of books they had, one after another, spending whole afternoons buried in the pages. As other children, Will enjoyed fairy tales and stories for kids, but his favorite books were, what the other kids liked to call, adult books. The ones he liked the most were about fishing and boats, though he didn’t know to explain why; maybe it had to do with his life before going to the orphanage, something that he hadn’t many memories of.

However, the book he'd been currently obsessed with was about chess. As soon as he read about the game, he became fascinated by it. It was a shame that no one in the orphanage knew how to play, or even had the game's pieces in the first place.

Therefore, he had to improvise, drawing lines on the floor with crayons to be the board and using lids of bottles as the pieces, plus, of course, having to play alone. That was exactly what he was doing at the moment, the other kids looking at him, thinking he’s weird - as always - but he didn't care. No one would understand anyway.

He had his little game with himself interrupted by a certain bustle at the main door, and some adults entered, bringing a boy. Must be someone new, Will thought and completely ignored what he was doing to watch the other child, as the curious boy he was.

The other boy wasn't much older than him, had short blonde hair and dark eyes. He looked sad. Will knew it was tough to be the new kid.

However, Will's heart almost stopped when he saw the boy holding a chess board, and a little package on the other hand; probably the pieces. Will couldn't believe his eyes.

The adults left the boy alone, now that he was among the other children, and he spotted Will, who quickly turned his face to the ground, interrupting the eye contact. But it was too late, the boy was approaching him. When he got close enough, he crouched to talk to Will.

"Hello", he said. "I saw you playing chess. Can I play with you?"

Will remained silent for a second, absorbing the situation. Then, he said in a low tone:

"Yes."

The boy sat down next to him, put the board and the package on the floor and smiled.

"My name is Hannibal. What's your name?"

"Will", he smiled, shyly.

"Nice to meet you, Will."

They shook hands and arranged the things to finally start the game. Will was so excited. He was going to play chess with another person, a person who knew the game and had everything they needed. He felt happy.

For the first time in years, Will felt understood. He wasn’t going to be alone anymore.


End file.
